St. Landry democrat., 1887-09-03
THE KISS IN HISTORY.
Some Interesting Information Regarding
That Most Delightful of CaresseS.


There was an old belief that unless q
maiden was kissed under the mistletoe at
Christmas she would not be married during
the ensuing year.
, When Fox was contesting the hard-wOn
seat at Westminster the beautiful Duchess Of
Devonshre offered to kiss all who voted for
the great statesman.
In the ceremonial of betrOthal kiss has
| played an important part III several nations.
| A nuptal kiss in church, at the conclusion
| of the marriage service is sOlemnlv en- Joined
| by the York MiSsal and the Sarum Manual
| The beautiful Lady Gordon. when the ranks
| Of the Scottish regiments had been sadly
| thinned by cruel BadajOs and Salamanca
! turned recruiting sergeant, and, to tempt the
| gallant lads, placed the recruiting shilling in
! her lips. whence each who would might take
| it with his own.
| In Finland, according to Bayard Taylor,
! the women resent as an insult salute upon
the lips. A Finish matron, hearing of our
! English custom q kissing, declared that did
her husband attempt such a liberty she
would treat him with such a box on the ears
that he should not readily forget.
In Wesley's journal, dated June 16, 1853,
is given the following description of a duel
between two officers at Limerick; 'Mr. B.
proposed firing at twelve yards but Mr.. J.
another (poOr farce and before they were
five PAGES asunder both fired at the instant"
The code of Justinian says that if a man
betrOthed a woman by kiss and either party
died before marriage the heirs were entitled
to half the donations and the survivor to
the other half; tiff the contract was made
without the solemn kiss, the whole of the
espousal gifts must be restored to the donors
and their heirs-at-aw.
The MOhammedans, on their pious pill
grimage to Mecca, kiss the sacred black stone
and the four corners of the kaaba The
Catholic priest kisses the aspergillum and
Palm Sunday the palm Kissing the Popees
toe was fashion introduced by one of the
Leos, who, it is said, had mutilated his right
hand, and was too vain to expose the stump.
In Iceland kissing had deferred penalties
of great severity. For kissing another mans
wife, with or without her consent, the pun
ishment ofeXclusiOn, or its pecuniary eQuiva-
lent, was awarded: A man rendered him.
self liable for kissing an unmarried woman
under legal guardianship without her con-
sent, and, if the lady consented, the law re-
quired that every kiss should be wiped out
by a fine of three marks-equivaent to l4O
ellis of wadmal-a quantity sufficient to fur
nish a whole ships crew with pilot jackets.
In Russia the Eastern salutatiOn is a kiss.
Each member of the family salutes the other;
chance acquaintance on meeting kiss; prln-
cipals kiss their employees the general kisses
his officers, the officers kiss their soldiers;
the Gar kisses his family, retinue, court,
and attendants, and even his officers on
parade, the sentines at the palace gates, and
a select party of private soldiers-probably
deliberately prepared for this royal salute
In other parts the poorest serf, meeting a
high born dame on the streets, has but to say,
Christ is Rsen," and he will receive kiss
and the reply, He has risen, truly"
Home. in his quaint old Table Book
gives an account of a curious old kissing tes
tiva held in Ireland: Easter Monday sew
eral hundred young persons Of the town and
neighborhood of Postferry county Down,
resort, dressed in their best, to a pleasant
walk near the town, called The Waller
The avowed object of each person is to see
the fun, which consists in the men kissing
the females without reserve, whether mar
red or single. This mode of salutation is
quite matter of course; it is never taken
amiss nor with much show of coyness. The
female must be ordinary indeed who returns
home without having received at least
dozen hearty BUSES. Chicago Tribune